Kerry Cartoon

Baby Jesus, "Merry Christmas" banner removed from VA hospital

A manger and a banner reading “Merry Christmas” were removed from a public area of a VA hospital in Texas after someone complained about “overly religious and offensive” decorations.
“They ruined our decorations,” Vietnam veteran Ethel Holloway told television station KENS. “They threw them out.” 
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Holloway said she had been putting up decorations at the Audi Murphy VA Hospital for 33 years – without any problems. This year, her yuletide banner turned out to be problematic.
“They literally took pieces from the middle of a whole train set, because the middle said ‘Merry Christmas,’” helper Grace Martinez told the television station.
The South Texas Veterans Health Care System admits they removed not only Holloway’s “Merry Christmas” banner, but also a manger along with a “specific scripture decoration.”
“During the removal of a manger and specific scripture decoration, a Merry Christmas decoration was accidentally removed and damaged,” read a statement from the VA to Fox News. “The remaining decorations were removed by the decoration donor and her representatives.”
The VA hospital said they have offered to reimburse her for the damaged decorations.
“We acknowledge that the corrective action should have been to display the faith-specific holiday decoration along with multiple religious faith symbols,” the statement read. “We are currently ensuring that our staff are educated and aware of the national policy and how it relates to decorations throughout the facility.”
So the VA destroys a brave veteran’s Christmas decorations – and their response is “oops – our bad”?
“The faith specific symbols were displayed in a public area without other specific religious symbols being included,” their statement read.
I’d like to know what happened to the manger scene and the other “overly religious and offensive” decorations.
Were they returned to donors? Were they stored in a closet? Were they tossed to the curb?
The VA hospital told me they have no idea what became of Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus. There was no room for them in the inn or apparently the Audie Murphy VA Hospital.
It’s not the first time the VA has tried to cleanse its hospitals of Christmas cheer.
A VA hospital in Salem, Virginia banned Christmas greetings, “religious” carols, and Christmas trees from all public areas earlier this year.
After hospital employees staged a revolt, the VA relented and agreed to allow Christmas trees – provided the trees were accompanied by symbols of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.
However, hospital employees are still prohibited from wishing veterans a “Merry Christmas” or playing “religious” Christmas music – even in their personal work space, according to The Becket Fund.
“I like ‘Jingle Bells’ as much as the next person, but the government can’t ban ‘religious’ Christmas carols any more than it can ban ugly sweaters or egg nog,” said Kristina Arriaga, executive director of The Becket Fund.
The Becket Fund, a religious liberty advocacy group, recently awarded the Sale VA hospital its “Ebenezer Award” “for the most ridiculous affront to the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons.” 
“Our veterans stare down the most hostile threats to freedom the world has ever known,” Arriaga said in a statement. “But I’m pretty sure the words ‘Merry Christmas’ are not one of them.”
Amen, ma’am.
I reached out to the VA hospital one last time to find out what was so “overly offensive” about the manger scene.  I’m still waiting on a reply.
But I suspect it had something to do with a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is "God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values." Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

Trump brands Hillary Clinton a 'liar' over ISIS recruitment video claim

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rounded on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton Monday, calling her a "liar" over her claim that the ISIS terror group used videos of his comments about Muslims to recruit militants.
"She's a liar!" Trump told more than 6,000 people at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also said Clinton was "crooked" and "not a president."
Trump also resorted to crude language to discuss Clinton's 2008 loss in the Iowa caucuses to Barack Obama, who went on to win the Democratic nomination and the White House. 
"She was favored to win and she got schlonged, she lost," said Trump, who also mocked Clinton for returning late to Saturday's Democratic debate following a commercial break. "I thought she quit, I thought she gave up," Trump joked.
During Saturday's debate, Clinton said Trump had become ISIS' "best recruiter" adding, "They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists."
There was no evidence to back the claim, and a spokeswoman later said, "She didn't have a particular video in mind."
Still, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon, asked Monday by MSNBC if Clinton would apologize to Trump, insisted, "Hell no."
Trump argued at Grand Rapids' DeltaPlex Arena that he is the last person Clinton wants to run against in a general election.
"Ask Jeb Bush if he enjoys running against me," he said of the former Florida governor who has been struggling to gain traction despite a massive early fundraising advantage.
"Ask Lindsey Graham, did he enjoy running against Trump?" he said of the South Carolina senator who on Monday announced his departure from the race.
Trump also defended the kind words he's been exchanging with Russian President Vladimir Putin, brushing off criticism that he has been too kind to the Russian president.
"That's, like, a good thing, not a bad thing," he insisted. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could get along, like, with people?"
And he made clear that he is opposed to the killing of journalists, after appearing to brush off concerns about Putin's record on a Sunday morning news show.
"I don't like that, I'm totally against that," said Trump. "By the way, I hate some of these people ... and some of them are such lying, disgusting people, it's true. But I would never kill. And anybody that does I think would be despicable."

Iranian hackers gained access to suburban NYC dam in 2013, report says

Iranian computer hackers accessed the control system of a small dam outside of New York City two years ago, raising red flags throughout the U.S. government, according to a published report. 
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Homeland Security believes the hackers infiltrated the Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye Brook, N.Y. through a cellular modem. According to the Journal, investigators believe that hackers never actually took control of the dam itself, but merely probed the system.
Neither the White House nor DHS would comment specifically on the alleged incident when contacted by Fox News.
But DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee said in a statement: “The Department of Homeland Security continues to coordinate national efforts to strengthen the security and resilience of critical infrastructure, working with our federal and industry partners across the country to raise awareness about evolving threats and promote measures to reduce risks to systems we all rely on.”
The reported dam incident comes amid attacks by hackers linked to Iran’s government against the websites of U.S. banks and illustrates a prime concern of American officials: how to protect vulnerable American infrastructure from cyberattacks. 
According to the Journal, the Department of Homeland Security was notified of 295 industrial-control-system hacking incidents over the 12 months ending Sept. 30. Over the previous 12 months, the number was 245. 
Initially, intelligence analysts feared the hackers were targeting another dam: The Arthur R. Bowman Dam in Oregon, a 245-foot-tall earthen structure that irrigates local agriculture and prevents flooding near the town of Prineville, approximately 150 miles southeast of Portland. That belief prompted investigators to notify the White House that Iran had escalted its cyberwar with the United States.
The 22-foot-high Bowman Avenue Dam, built in 1941 for flood control, is described as "very, very small" by the manager of the nearby town of Rye, but its infiltration represents a fear among U.S. officials that government-backed hackers were more capable than first thought, and could inflict real-world damage.

Republicans blast Kerry for suggesting Iran could skirt new visa rules

Republicans on Monday blasted Secretary of State John Kerry for suggesting in a letter to his Iranian counterpart that the administration could help the country get around new visa restrictions passed by Congress.
“Instead of bending over backwards to try to placate the Iranian regime, the White House needs to be holding it accountable for its recent missile tests, its continued support for terrorism, and its wrongful imprisonment of Americans,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said in a statement to FoxNews.com.
At issue are tightened security requirements for America’s visa waiver program, which allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. without visas. Under changes in the newly signed spending bill, people from those countries who have traveled to Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan in the past five years must now obtain visas to enter the U.S.
Top Tehran officials, however, complained the changes violate the terms of the nuclear deal, which says the U.S. and other world powers will refrain from any policy intended to adversely affect normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran.
Kerry responded to these concerns in a Dec. 19 letter to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif -- and suggested the administration could simply bypass the rules for Iran. 
“I am also confident that the recent changes in visa requirements passed in Congress, which the Administration has the authority to waive, will not in any way prevent us from meeting our [nuclear deal] commitments, and that we will implement them so as not to interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran,” he said.  
Kerry’s letter to Zarif assured that the U.S. would “adhere to the full measure of our commitments.” As for changes to the visa program, Kerry floated several alternative options for easing any impact on Iran – including waiving the new requirements.
“To this end, we have a number of potential tools available to us, including multiple entry ten-year business visas, programs for expediting business visas, and the waiver authority provided under the new legislation,” he wrote.
The legislation indeed includes a provision allowing the Homeland Security secretary to waive the requirements if the secretary determines this “is in the law enforcement or national security interests of the United States.”
But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., voiced concern on Monday that Kerry was proposing a “blanket” waiver to accommodate Iran’s complaints. He said that is not Congress’ intent.
“Contrary to what the Secretary of State seems to be saying to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, it was not and has never been Congress’s intent to allow the Administration to grant a blanket waiver to travellers from Iran in order to facilitate the implementation of the Iran deal,” he said in a statement.
McCarthy said the point of the legislation was to strengthen security and “keep the American people safe from terrorism and from foreign travelers who potentially pose a threat to our homeland.”
Kerry’s assurances also raised concerns that the U.S. may be backing down to Iran’s complaints while at the same time reluctant to punish Tehran for its own potential violations.
“Instead of undermining Congressional intent regarding the visa waiver program, the White House should instead focus on Iran’s repeated violations of the U.N. Security Council's bans on missile tests,” McCarthy said. “Iran’s unwillingness to follow these international agreements should be a red flag that the Iran nuclear deal isn’t worth the paper it is written on.”
Omri Ceren, with the Washington, D.C.-based Israel Project, also told The Washington Free Beacon, “According to the Obama administration’s latest interpretation, the nuclear deal allows Iran to test ballistic missiles in violation of international law, but does not allow Congress to prevent terrorists from coming into the United States.”
The same article noted that the State Department official in charge of implementing the nuclear agreement warned Congress last week that the new visa rules “could have a very negative impact on the deal.”
Indeed, Kerry’s letter came as top-ranking Iranian officials accused the U.S. of flouting the nuclear agreement.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the change “contradicts” the nuclear deal.
"Definitely, this law adversely affects economic, cultural, scientific and tourism relations,” Araghchi was quoted by state TV as saying.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani made similar comments.
Asked about Kerry’s assurances at Monday’s daily briefing, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the secretary made clear they would “implement this new legislation so as not to interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran.”
Kirby said the law would be followed, but there are a “number of potential tools” to ensure this does not violate the nuclear deal. As for the DHS waiver authority, he said it’s too soon to say “if and when” that might be used.
The Kerry letter initially was obtained and published by the National Iranian American Council.
The State Department confirmed the document’s authenticity on Monday.